David Malmberg, owner of Affordable Towing in Cape Coral, filed a formal complaint with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office against City Councilmember Eric Grill Thursday, claiming he took money for a construction project that was never started.
Malmberg contracted Grill’s company, Grand Cape Construction, in June to construct a 2,400 square-foot building at 213 S.W. Third Ave. He claims that large portions of his $15,000 deposit have not been accounted for by Grill.
The complaint is the second such allegation made against Grill in three weeks.
Lisa Johnson, owner of Tropical Twisters Gymnastics, filed a complaint against Grill in late December with the Cape Coral Police Department, claiming that he took $50,000 for a new gym that is yet to begin construction. The CCPD turned the complaint over to the State Attorney’s Office, which referred the matter to the LCSO earlier this week.
Malmberg said he tried to contact Grill several times before eventually meeting with him to discuss the project, and was not pleased with Grill’s explanation when he did.
“Weeks and weeks went by and we never heard anything,” Malmberg said during a phone interview earlier this week.
After meeting with Malmberg in November, Grill provided Malmberg with an outline of how the deposit was spent on Dec. 2.
According to Malmberg, he contacted the subcontractors paid by Grand Cape and the payments they received were less than the payments in Grill’s outline.
Grill has consistently declined to comment on the issue, saying he will not conduct his personal business in the media.